as in pretending
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Dissimilar Words
as in weaseling
to avoid giving a definite answer or position
the candidate equivocated as long as he could on controversial issues
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of equivocating
Andrew Knoll,
Daily News,
13 Jan. 2026
CBS News,
29 Mar. 2026
But the judge’s equivocating ruling in that piracy case created a loophole, according to Anthropic’s lawyers.
—
James Folta,
Literary Hub,
6 Feb. 2026
While Abigail Spanberger stood with her running mate Jay Jones and his murderous fantasies, and evaded every direct question including equivocating over men being in locker rooms with girls.
—
Mabinty Quarshie,
The Washington Examiner,
11 Oct. 2025
Adjective
Yet Hiller’s latest equivocating mea culpa, with the now-familiar language of hardship and defeatism so unbecoming of a professional hockey team, rang unconvincing.
—
Andrew Knoll,
Daily News,
13 Jan. 2026
Verb
This was after much pressing and equivocating, number one.
—
CBS News,
29 Mar. 2026
But the judge’s equivocating ruling in that piracy case created a loophole, according to Anthropic’s lawyers.
—
James Folta,
Literary Hub,
6 Feb. 2026
While Abigail Spanberger stood with her running mate Jay Jones and his murderous fantasies, and evaded every direct question including equivocating over men being in locker rooms with girls.
—
Mabinty Quarshie,
The Washington Examiner,
11 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for equivocating
Adjective
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There can be no more pretending, briefing or hiding.
Verb
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This tournament has built credibility by showcasing teams competing at a high level, then shaking hands afterward.
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An earth-shaking roar The World Cup finally arrived in Kansas City after several years of preparation and anticipation.
Adjective
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Or means that any comments are supposedly hypocritical.
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Earlier this month, Matsui’s campaign came after Vang for taking corporate donations from Sacramento-area businesses during her city council campaigns, implying that Vang’s vows to not accept money from corporate PACs in her congressional bid is hypocritical.
Verb
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Nothing kills momentum faster than waffling on a big decision.
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Patricia Serio is waffling between Saint Xavier and Judson University to finish her degree.
Adjective
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Infiltrate a swanky New York law firm that may be duplicitous in the opioid crisis, an epidemic that also happens to have taken the life of her daughter.
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The takeaway, then, isn’t that students are duplicitous and depraved or that technology has eroded their moral core.
Adjective
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Not everyone believes, however, that the line is insincere.
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And so, open door policies rarely fail because leaders are insincere.
Adjective
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Investors hear evasive answers in earnings calls.
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Whitehead, who’d praised Jenkins’s adaptation at the podium in Wyoming, was evasive when asked about Ross’s.
Adjective
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The local gendarmerie, led by blandly untrustworthy Inspector Marchal (Bertrand Belin) is called in to investigate.
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There is evidence that this tendency, known as the endowment effect, was favored by natural selection when bargains were risky in a pre-modern world, a time when giving over one item, in trade for another, might risk getting nothing at all from an untrustworthy trading partner.
Cite this Entry
“Equivocating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/equivocating. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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